With a bad race from competitors and another podium - the seventh - to his account, Stoffel Vandoorne took a big step towards the Formula E title in London and opened a lead in the championship
Stoffel Vandoorne's second place in race 1 of the eP London on Saturday may have been crucial in the Belgian's quest for the Formula E title. The Mercedes driver saw two of his three rivals leave the ExCel Arena with zero points, while he managed to add 18 points to reach 173. For the first time, a driver has a gap in the championship - and at the most decisive moment.
The closest competitor to Vandoorne at the moment is Mitch Evans, who continues to gain positions. After taking over third place from Jean-Èric Vergne, the Jaguar driver added eight more points with his sixth place in London to 147 points, also taking over second place from Edoardo Mortara.
Despite the important advantage imposed by Vandoorne, Evans' recovery in London was vital to keep the possibility of the title alive. The New Zealander is now 26 points behind the championship leader.
Mortara had an extremely difficult life since the beginning of Saturday's activities, without finding himself in qualifying. In the race, he was hit by Sam Bird in the first corner and saw his Venturi suffer damage throughout the race, which prevented him from fighting for anything. The result: Mortara was far from the pack the entire time, closer to taking a lap from leader Jake Dennis than to the penultimate place.
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As a result, the Swiss driver has parked himself on 144 points - he has scored just five points in the last three races, despite two fastest laps in New York - and has seen Vandoorne open up a 29-point lead. Jean-Èric Vergne, in turn, continues his ordeal - and in the most decisive hour of the championship. The driver, who had scored in every race until he arrived in New York, was zeroed for the third time in a row on Saturday.
Among the other changes in the table, António Félix da Costa went to 106 points and took fifth place from Robin Frijns, who remains with 104. Nyck de Vries was another rider who caught up with the Dutchman with his podium finish in London and moved up to 98 points, taking eighth place from Lucas Di Grassi - who remains on 86.
Jake Dennis climbed three steps with his home victory and now has 76 points, enough to leave behind Nick Cassidy, André Lotterer, and Pascal Wehrlein to take ninth place. Lastly, Oliver Askew scored ten goals in the first race of the weekend and reached 12, passing Oliver Turvey and Oliver Rowland - he is now 16th.